"As survivors we want Australians to know it is not just the practice that is harmful, but that much of the damage is done by the ideology that underpins the pseudo-therapies."

Australia has the potential to lead the world in eliminating conversion ‘therapy’ and the ‘ex-gay’ and ‘ex-trans’ movement that lies behind it.

An important step was taken in that direction at the end of last year when the Labor national conference dropped its existing policy of simply criminalising conversion therapy in favour of a new policy that targets the ideology behind the movement and proposes a multi-pronged strategy to addressing it.

A similar broader approach has been announced by Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews, who called the conversion movement “bigoted quackery” and wants to see it tackled by education as well as legislation.

This broader focus opens the way for the key recommendations of survivor advocates, namely legislation to address practitioners and referrers, protections for children, support for survivors, regulation of the counselling industry, and a public education campaign.

The Australian Christian Lobby construed Labor’s policy shift as a victory, but it will rue its short-sighted triumphalism when it understands the implications of the new Labor policy.

Why is Labor’s new, broader focus so important?

In 2018 survivors shared their stories in unprecedented numbers, effectively bringing the conversion movement out of the closet.

While this has been a good thing, much of the focus in the media has been on the practice of formalised conversion therapy, obscuring a fuller view of the broad conversion movement.

As survivors, we want Australians to know it is not just the practice of conversion therapy that is harmful, but that much of the damage is done by the ideology that underpins the pseudo-therapies.

The extent to which this ideology of “brokenness” proliferates in Australia’s evangelical churches cannot be overstated.

Far from a traditional conservative view of LGBT identity as sin, the brokenness ideology has developed into a complex web of (thoroughly debunked) pseudo-scientific claims about the ’causes’ of same-sex attraction and gender identity, and the lives of LGBT people.

Much of the work of survivor advocates has been to expose this ideology as the driving force behind the harm.

It is the ideology that drives professional therapists to subvert their professional standards and work towards ‘healing’ this brokenness in their LGBT clients.

It is the ideology that has led some therapists to focus more on trans children, a group already vulnerable thanks to the high-profile attacks on their legitimacy and rights by politicians and religious leaders.

Conversion ideology is far beyond the bounds of conventional theology, yet we increasingly see conservative religious bodies refer to it as central to their faith and their religious freedom.

We urge Australians to see beyond these pious proclamations.

Through the work we have done in recent years in petitioning the government to act, through survivor support group Brave Network Melbourne, and through the recently-released Human Rights Law Centre and La Trobe University report “Preventing Harm, Promoting Justice”, a clear picture has emerged of the consequences of the conversion movement.

Poor mental health that lingers years after leaving the movement, difficulty in relationships, poor sexual function, profoundly damaged self-esteem, depression, self-loathing and suicidal ideation are just some of the most common long-term consequences for survivors.

The impact on the lives of survivors has been profound and the support they now require from genuine therapists and groups like Brave will last for many years.

Reference to criminal sanctions has been removed from Federal Labor’s new policy pending further elaboration of the party’s full strategy.

The question of penalties and deterrents is yet to be fully debated, particularly the issue of whether there should be criminal sanctions for referring to, or practising, conversion therapy.

Determining what penalties should apply is about protecting the LGBT community and ensuring a clear message is sent to perpetrators.

Recently in Malta, criminal sanctions were applied to those who enable conversion practices as well as those who refer people to those practices.

The view of Brave Network and the authors of the reports into the conversion movement released last year is that both classes of people are equally responsible for harm.

The ramifications of criminal penalties are significant because the vast majority of referrers are church leaders who engage in pastoral care of LGBT people in their churches and who wilfully extol conversion ideology.

In the past, this kind of discussion would land advocates right in the middle of a contentious religious freedom debate.

However, as our awareness of conversion ideology and the damage it causes grows, it is becoming clear that a debate about criminal sanctions cannot and should not be avoided.

In this regard, we are pleased the office of Shadow Health Minister, Catherine King, has confirmed criminal sanctions have not necessarily been ruled out as part of a multi-faceted response.

We also pleased that reports of the Victorian Government’s initiative say criminal sanctions will be an option as debate about appropriate penalties continues.

While the voices of survivors and community advocates must remain central to the conversion therapy debate, so extensive has been the damage inflicted on the LGBTIQ community by the conversion movement that we believe the community should collectively decide the next steps.

4 Comments

It is important to recognise the connections between conversion “therapy” – can we please stop calling it that, it’s bullying, torture, and murder – pseudo-religious evangelical theology imported from the US, and religious schooling.
All of them need to be tackled. And criminal sanctions, for practitioners, promoters and enablers, are a vital part of that. https://thestirrer.com.au/fight-not-flannel/

Once upon a time it was South Australia which was at the forefront of Social Reforms in Australia and Victoria, just behind Queensland, which was the most reactionary of all.
Today Victoria is the leader. When can we expect the other States and Territories to follow suit? When can we expect the Federal Government – no matter which Party is in power, to take action to make this Gay Conversion Therapy – originally promoted by the Baptist Church – rubbish a Criminal Offence?
When are they all going to make it possible for the victims to sue these sadists?
Just how any intelligent, decent parent can risk sending any of their children to any school run by any Religious organisation is beyond comprehension. After years of denial there is not one of them which has not been forced to admit that their archbishops, bishops, priests, nuns, brothers, monks and lay-teachers etc. have been hives for paedophiles.
The Royal Commission did not go far enough it needs to be made Permanent.
Strange isn’t it? The Pope has now admitted that paedophile behaviour is a scourge within his organisation. he has also admitted that bishops, priests – and we can Guarantee that archbishops, cardinals have all been at it to – have, despite their absurd vow of celibacy, been indulging is Sex Abuse and Slavery of nuns.
Yet he still allows fugitive priests etc. to hide in the Vatican.
Until he orders them all out and to return to the countries where they are wanted on Sex Abuse charges then we can simply write the pope off as just another religious hypocrite.

Good article, but I remain curious about what can already be done to sue practitioners of this quackery for the harm already caused. I’d have thought existing provisions around treatments which cause harm rather than deliver promised results would enable lawsuits for damages (eg counselling, as referred to in the article, costs money).

I’m encouraged by Labor’s policy too, although criminalising this practice is something which has occurred in various US states (that surprised me too given the strength of the religious right in that country) so I’m not sure about the article’s suggestion that we lead the world..

There needs to be a focus on religious schools role in promoting conversion therapy to young vulnerable students in their care. The push for religious exemptions oh the hiring and firing of teachers, the acceptance of Queer students is all about protecting the covert promotion of conversion therapies.